Do Moving Charges Create Magnetic Fields, or is it Something Else?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the nature of magnetic fields generated by moving charges, particularly in the context of electric currents and their interaction with magnetic fields. Participants explore concepts related to the Lorentz force, Hall effect, and the relationship between electric and magnetic fields, with a focus on both theoretical and practical implications in physics.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants discuss the relationship between the macroscopic Laplace force and the microscopic Lorentz force, questioning how they interact in the presence of a Hall voltage.
  • There is a suggestion that the Hall effect is relevant only in macroscopic cases, leading to questions about its applicability to single electron systems.
  • One participant proposes that the Lorentz force can be understood as a manifestation of Poynting energy flow, linking it to external electric and magnetic fields.
  • Another participant presents a detailed argument using Newton's 3rd Law to explain the forces acting on electrons in a conductor and how these relate to the Laplace force and Hall voltage.
  • Some participants express skepticism about the conventional explanation that moving charges create magnetic fields, suggesting instead that changes in electric fields may be responsible for magnetic field generation.
  • There is a discussion about the creation of strong magnetic fields from DC currents, with some arguing that moving charges must be the primary cause, while others question the role of displacement currents in this context.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express multiple competing views regarding the mechanisms behind magnetic field generation by moving charges and the role of electric fields. The discussion remains unresolved, with no consensus on the interpretations presented.

Contextual Notes

Participants highlight limitations in understanding the interplay between electric and magnetic fields, particularly in terms of assumptions about the applicability of classical physics and the conditions under which different effects manifest.

Delta2
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Ok so when we have a current carrying conductor inside a magnetic field there would be Laplace force ##L\times Bi## which is the macroscopic form of the microscopic Lorentz force ##v\times Bq## in a large number of electrons ( or it is not ?)

But also there will be hall voltage which will cancel out that microscopic Lorentz force. So wouldn't that cancel the laplace force as well? Then how on Earth do the electric motors operate?
 
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Hall effect comes for macroscopic cases...for if you consider one electron system, where is the hall effect?
 
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Niladri Dan said:
Hall effect comes for macroscopic cases...for if u cosider one electron system, where is the hall effect?

The electric field from the hall voltage is ##E_h=\frac{V_h}{d}##. This electric field is such as to oppose the force ##v_e\times Bq_e## so it is
##(E_h+v_e\times B)q_e=0##. (##v_e,q_e## the drift velocity and the charge of a free electron).
 
In my opinion Lorentz force is nothing but poynting energy flow E x H created by external magnetic field and varrying electric field at a nearby point because of charge moving through that point
 
Narayanan KR said:
In my opinion Lorentz force is nothing but poynting energy flow E x H created by external magnetic field and varrying electric field at a nearby point because of charge moving through that point
this is an interesting opinion...can you provide some further references or reading that will support your opinion
 
Well, not sure what Narayanan KR implies but I think I have found a solution to this that makes use of mainstream classical physics, and most specifically Newton's 3rd Law of action and reaction:

So to an electron with drift velocity ##v_e## and charge ##q_e##there are being apllied two forces : The force from the electric field of hall voltage, ##F_{E_h}## and the force from the magnetic field ##F_B=(v_e \times B)q_e ## and it is ##F_{E_h}+F_B=0## (1).

Now here comes the interesting part, according to the Newton's 3rd law, the electron applies a force ##-F_{E_h}## (2) to the surface charges of the conductor that create the hall voltage and the associated electric field. The force from a single electron will be negligible, but there is huge number of electrons that make up the current, and if we do the math and due to (1) and (2) we ll find that the total reaction force that the stream of electrons applies to the surface charges equals the laplace force.

(Ofcourse there is also the reaction force that the stream of electrons applies to the source of the magnetic field and it will be -Laplace force)

So what do you think of this explanation?

I guess the force that the electron stream applies to the surface charges is an internal force, thus cannot change the momentum/angular momentum of the conductor , for that is responsible the force from the magnetic field, however internal forces make the work here and are responsible for the change in kinetic energy. The Laplace force it is just another example of an external force that doesn't do work (cause magnetic field cannot do work on matter according to many threads in this forums) but is responsible for the change in momentum. (Friction is another example of such force, many threads in this forum on how friction doesn't do work on rotating wheels of a car, though it is responsible for the change in momentum).
 
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Delta² said:
Well, not sure what Narayanan KR implies but I think I have found a solution to this that makes use of mainstream classical physics, and most specifically Newton's 3rd Law of action and reaction:

So to an electron with drift velocity ##v_e## and charge ##q_e##there are being apllied two forces : The force from the electric field of hall voltage, ##F_{E_h}## and the force from the magnetic field ##F_B=(v_e \times B)q_e ## and it is ##F_{E_h}+F_B=0## (1).

Now here comes the interesting part, according to the Newton's 3rd law, the electron applies a force ##-F_{E_h}## (2) to the surface charges of the conductor that create the hall voltage and the associated electric field. The force from a single electron will be negligible, but there is huge number of electrons that make up the current, and if we do the math and due to (1) and (2) we ll find that the total reaction force that the stream of electrons applies to the surface charges equals the laplace force.

(Ofcourse there is also the reaction force that the stream of electrons applies to the source of the magnetic field and it will be -Laplace force)

So what do you think of this explanation?

I guess the force that the electron stream applies to the surface charges is an internal force, thus cannot change the momentum/angular momentum of the conductor , for that is responsible the force from the magnetic field, however internal forces make the work here and are responsible for the change in kinetic energy. The Laplace force it is just another example of an external force that doesn't do work (cause magnetic field cannot do work on matter according to many threads in this forums) but is responsible for the change in momentum. (Friction is another example of such force, many threads in this forum on how friction doesn't do work on rotating wheels of a car, though it is responsible for the change in momentum).

I agree that lot of electrons moving to one side of a conductor has a macroscopic reaction effect, but my question is why at the first place that a moving electron gets deflected in a magnetic field, textbooks say that moving charge creates magnetic field around it and it gets attracted/repelled in an external magnetic field accordingly.
Yet i think that moving charge is not reason of magnetic field, its just change in electric field at a point creates magnetic field, just like inside a capacitor.
All we need to know clearly is what happens when we have have electric and magnetic fields perpendicular to each other in a region where a charge is placed.
We can do it by reading the papers of Heaviside or poynting available in Archives.org or conduct simple experiment with capacitors (electric field) and magnets (magnetic field) ( by creating magnetic field perpendicular to electric field in a capacitor we have to look for any electrical or EM activity )
 
Narayanan KR said:
Yet i think that moving charge is not reason of magnetic field, its just change in electric field at a point creates magnetic field, just like inside a capacitor.

How can you explain the creation of strong magnetic field from DC current then, if not because of the moving charges? Of course we know that microscopically in a DC current there is time varying electric field, but I believe that macroscopically the total electric field is nearly zero and ##dE/dt## will be almost zero. There is not strong enough ##dE/dt## term (the displacement current term in Maxwell's-Ampere's Law is very small in the case of DC current) to explain the strong magnetic field from a DC current, moving charges (the current density term in Maxwell's- Ampere's Law)is the only explanation.
 

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